TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON, THE {RICHARD PRYOR; ROBERTA LINN; SHIMADA; DOUGLAS MORROW; JUDY MALLETT} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of late-night talk/variety programs hosted by Johnny Carson. Carson's guests for this program are comedian Richard Pryor, singer Roberta Linn, illusionist Shimada, screenwriter Douglas Morrow and Miss Texas Judy Mallett. In his opening monologue, Carson touches on the following topics, among others: President Nixon's promise not to raise taxes and his own questionable filing habits; Henry Kissinger's confirmation as Secretary of State; the tragic death of Anita, one of the two spiders onboard the Skylab 3 space station; Buzz Aldrin's candid comments about astronauts' partying habits and "fun with other women"; the expensive refurbishing of the President's jet; and the rising price of bagels.
Carson then peruses a pack of "delightful expression" cards sent to him by a fan, many of which feature vague "I love you because…" messages, to which he and McMahon add several more specific suggestions. Shimada then takes the stage and performs an elaborate magic routine featuring scarves, masks, parasols and fire.
Next, Mallett sits down with Carson and comments on the following: her feelings about losing the Miss America 1974 contest to Miss Colorado and finishing in the top ten; her first pageant, the "Miss Big Thicket" contest in Texas; Carson's fears of aggressive "pageant moms"; the unusually strong talent portion in this year's competition; the strict rules about contestants and their chaperones; whether the women ever become "vicious" with one another; her current enrollment in university and lack of free time for dating; and her views on many people's objections to the pageant, namely the swimsuit portion, on the grounds of sexism and degradation. Mallett also performs a medley of songs, including "Orange Blossom Special," on the fiddle with the help of the NBC Orchestra.
Pryor performs a stand-up routine in which he parodies "black revolution" meetings and the many eccentric speakers who attend them. He then sits down with Carson and comments on the following: his grandmother's demands that he take up the "manly" pastime of fishing; his experiences hunting with his father as a young adult; and his early days as a nightclub performer and decision to switch to comedy after noticing the audience's disinterest in his singing.
Linn sings "A House is Not a Home," and then chats with Carson about her longtime experience as one of the "Champagne Ladies" on "The Lawrence Welk Show"; funny memories of Welk's various malapropisms and accidental dirty comments in his trademark German-American accent; and Carson's discovery that his and Linn's mothers attended high school together in Iowa.
The final guest, Morrow, then joins the others onstage and comments on the following: his interest in athletes' stories, including "Jim Thorpe – All-American" (1951) and his latest film "Maurie" (1973), about the moving real-life friendship between basketball stars Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman; his sense that "the human race is not hopeless," despite studios' current interest in grim pictures about "greedy" people; his desire to "reflect the whole human experience," both good and bad, in his movies; a strange nitpick from an otherwise positive review of the film; the studio's superfluous request to add mentions of race to the story; and actor-turned-governor Ronald Reagan's interest in the picture and offer to aide its production. Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 19, 1973 11:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:15:07
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:76208
- GENRE: Talk/Interview
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; Talk/Interview; Comedy
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1962-1992
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Alpo dog food
- TV - Commercials - Bon Ami glass cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Celanese Fortrel polyester attire
- TV - Commercials - Chuck Wagon dog food
- TV - Commercials - Dinty Moore beef stew
- TV - Commercials - French's sauce mix
- TV - Commercials - Hormel chili
- TV - Commercials - Hush Puppies shoes
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal
- TV - Commercials - Lady Kenmore washing machines
- TV - Commercials - Magnavox televisions
- TV - Commercials - Naturalizer shoes
- TV - Commercials - Sheraton-Universal hotel
- TV - Commercials - Singer sewing machines
- TV - Commercials - Tang drink mix
CREDITS
- The NBC Orchestra … Music by
- Doc Severinsen … Conductor
- Johnny Carson … Host
- Ed McMahon … Co-Host
- Shimada … Guest, Performer
- Judy Mallett … Guest, Performer
- Richard Pryor … Guest, Performer
- Roberta Linn … Guest, Performer
- Douglas Morrow … Guest
- Buzz Aldrin
- Henry Kissinger
- Richard Nixon
- Ronald Reagan
- Maurice Stokes
- Jack Twyman
- Lawrence Welk